While Baltimore County and city police mobilize a joint task force to deal with car theft in the northwest suburbs, legislators from the area are pushing for laws that would make it easier to send automobile thieves to jail.
The Maryland Auto Theft Prevention Council yesterday awarded the county $407,000 to help pay for the operations of a 14-member team of police from both jurisdictions that began work last month. The council was expected to award grants to Baltimore and other jurisdictions as well.
The money, from a $2 million pool from the General Assembly to fight automobile theft, will pay for overtime, equipment, programs, vehicles, and literature related to car theft and prevention, according to Capt. William Kalista, head of the county's Criminal Investigation Services Division.
In addition to putting more officers on the streets to track down car thieves, Captain Kalista said the task force wants to identify the types of cars stolen most frequently and mail literature to their owners, evaluate the effectiveness of anti-theft devices, and work with Citizens on Patrol groups.
He said the task force also wants to pursue criminal operations that replace vehicle identification number plates on stolen cars with plates from wrecks, so the stolen cars can be sold through normal channels.
While most serious crime in Baltimore County has been decreasing, car theft was up by 15 percent in 1994, according to Cpl. Kevin Novak, a county police spokesman. Arrests of car thieves were up by 15 percent, he said.
About 5,000 automobiles were reported stolen last year in Baltimore County, slightly less than one percent of the 550,000 cars registered there. The heaviest theft rates were in the west side's Garrison and Woodlawn precincts, where gangs of city-based juveniles have been operating.
Responding to the problem, delegates from Northwest Baltimore and Baltimore County introduced legislation last week that would make motor vehicle theft a specific crime and impose tougher sentences on thieves.
"The biggest concern was that people thought car theft wasn't taken seriously enough," said Del. James W. Campbell, a co-sponsor whose district straddles the northwest city-county line.
Maryland has no law specifically dealing with automobile theft. The offense falls under either a general theft statute or a 19th-century "unauthorized use" law, according to Howard B. Merker, a deputy state's attorney in Baltimore County.
Under the theft statute, stealing a car or any other object valued at over $300 is a felony, with a maximum 15-year prison sentence and $1,000 fine, Mr. Merker said.
The less severe unauthorized use statute, more commonly applied to car thieves, is for offenders who can show they do not "intend to deprive" owners of their cars permanently. The maximum penalties are four years in jail and a $100 fine.
The general-purpose unauthorized use law, enacted in 1880 and amended as recently as 1993, prohibits the unauthorized use of a "horse, mare, colt, gelding, mule, ass, sheep, hog, ox, or cow or any carriage, wagon, buggy, cart, boat, craft, vessel, or any other vehicle including motor vehicle," Mr. Merker said, quoting from the statute.
With judges often opting to give so-called beginner criminals lighter sentences, "there aren't many car thieves that are going to wind up in jail for a significant period of time," the prosecutor said.
The proposed legislation would set up a separate category of first degree felony motor theft, with a maximum penalty of 10 years in jail and a $10,000 fine, and a less serious second-degree felony with penalties half as severe, and a misdemeanor count to deal with thefts by relatives.
The measure has gathered support from the Council of Citizens on Patrol, an umbrella group that represents 66 Baltimore County Citizens On Patrol organizations. The group is collecting signatures statewide backing the legislation.
The topic has been a hot one at meetings of civic groups in the county's northwestern communities. "We really have been overwhelmed with the car theft issue," said County Councilman Kevin Kamenetz of Pikesville, at a recent meeting.
"It's a recurring problem," said Rosalie M. Poole, president of the Villa Nova Community Association, who is active in the petition drive.
Meanwhile, county police may give up high-speed pursuits of suspected car thieves, which some Baltimore county residents regret because when their car is stolen, the burden of rental cars and higher insurance fees falls on them. Currently, officers sometimes chase suspects if they believe it's safe, but to avoid endangering uninvolved people, that policy is being revised and may be changed to allow high-speed pursuit only when violence or the threat of violence is involved, Corporal Novak said.
But police are using other weapons -- including the county's two helicopters to watch for stolen cars in areas where car theft is heaviest. If a car thief is driving in a stolen car, "he knows if he drives recklessly enough, he can outrun the police," said Maj. Adam Starr of the Garrison precinct. "But if a helicopter is above, he has no option but to get out and try to escape on foot" or surrender, he said.
The aviation unit has helped catch two car thieves since the task force started last month, according to Detective John Martin, who said helicopters are not always available.
Police have also initiated Operation ACT, which provides 300 car owners in the Garrison precinct with a 7-inch sticker for their rear windows giving police permission to stop anyone driving the car in early morning hours and ask for proof of ownership.